It's the year 2071. Meet Spike and Jet, a drifter and a retired cyborg cop. They've formed a partnership in a bounty hunting enterprise that specializes in adventure and cash. Using an old converted fishing ship called the Bebop, with the help of the intelligent data dog, Ein, the mysterious and vexing femme fatale, Faye Valentine, and Ed, the genius hacker - Spike and Jet scour the galaxy to clean up space, one bounty at a time.

Cowboy Bebop will be a live action movie starring Keanu Reeves based on the anime TV show of the same name that was originally broadcast in Japan in 1998 before it made its way to the States via Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.

“It’s got a Western quality, a Western film noir aspect to it,” said Reeves of the 26 episode TV series that also inspired a full-length animated movie in 2003. “It’s got so much style to it, and that’s part of its appeal. That kind of Old West, border town, low-tech science fiction aspect.”

Reeves also had the following to say about the planned movie:

“I think that would be a production designer’s dream. I think you just need a good production designer.”

“We’re taking the Red Eye [story], the beginning part of the series and then we’ll deal with the end of the series. We’re trying to figure out [the time frame]. We’re looking at the story right now.” [The plot of these episodes involves the origins on the fictional “Bebop” drug developed by the military that gives its users with a brief surge of superhuman reflexes and awareness.]

WE SAY

Cowboy Bebop is the sort of anime show that appeals to people who don’t normally like anime. If you’re unfamiliar with the show we’d suggest that you immediately plonk down some $120 or so for the entire box set on DVD. Yeah, we know times are tough and you have to pay your rent this month, but you’ll only thank us in the long run. It’s really a cool, enjoyable show mixing jazz instrumentals with great animated visuals. There are loads of action and a light tone (no mean-spiritedness here). Besides, the landlord can wait . . .

We know it is fashionable to complain about Reeves’ wooden acting, but at least he looks (a bit) like the animated Spike. But to be honest we’re not entirely convinced that this movie will ever happen. There are already plans for live action remakes of Akira and Ghost in the Shell in the pipeline and things may get a bit crowded. The last live action anime movie was Speed Racer, which sank like a stone at the box office.

“It’s not an origin story,” says Stoff. “We start with him, when he is in his present life already.”

Many of the key people involved in the Anime series, including the series director and writer Shinichirô Watanabe. Most importantly, Stoff says, Watanabe will be involved every step of the way, since he will be an associate producer on the film alongside the anime series’ producer Kenji Uchida and show writer Keiko Nobumoto.

“First of all, we’re honoring the series,” says Stoff. “I don’t know how many people can say this, but the first thing we did was go over and meet with Watanabe. We started there. He will be the first guy to read a script when it’s done. We’ll discuss directors with him. As far as the cast goes, I can’t tell you who is going to play what, but I can’t imagine that we’re not going to have a totally multi-ethnic cast.”

Twentieth Century Fox is bringing the Japanese anime TV series "Cowboy Bebop" to the big screen, with Keanu Reeves attached to star as a bounty hunter traveling through space in 2071.
One of the big titles in anime, "Bebop" is set in a time where "astral gates" make interstellar travel possible. Humanity, decimated by a lunar explosion resulting from a gate accident, spread out across the solar system, as did crime, which gave rise to the use of bounty hunters.
Reeves would play Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter and former member of a crime syndicate. Spiegel, along with Jet Black, a fellow bounty hunter and former cop, are the two pilots of the spaceship Bebop.
Peter Craig is writing the script.
The show, which first aired on Tokyo TV and satcaster Wowow during the late 1990s, was strongly influenced by American music, even featuring action sequences -- both space battles and mano a mano -- timed to U.S. melodies.
Reeves' association with the project leaked in the summer when Fox and 3 Arts Entertainment began the process of acquiring the rights from Sunrise Studios.
Erwin Stoff, Reeves' longtime manager, is producing through 3 Arts. Joshua Long will serve as executive producer.
Sunrise president Kenji Uchida, the TV series' director of animation, Shinichiro Watanabe, and series writer Keiko Nobumoto will serve as associate producers. Series producer Masahiko Minami will serve as production consultant.
"Bebop" marks a return to Fox for the CAA-repped Reeves, who starred in the studio's December release "The Day the Earth Stood Still."